Quite an adventure unfolded for us yesterday afternoon. Just as the afternoon thunderstorms were gathering momentum and distant bolts of lightning were visible in the sky, I got an urgent request from an eBay buyer. She wanted to buy a vintage rotary dial phone we had listed, the kind that a receptionist would use to direct calls to up to 5 different office lines. It even had the gizmo to allow her to rest the receiver on her shoulder while she wrote out messages. It was listed as 1966 Western Electric Bell Rotary 5 Button Phone 565HKM Office Key Desk Rare and had been awaiting the right buyer for nearly a year. This buyer wanted it "for a photo-shoot tomorrow." The phrase "In a New York minute kept running through my mind.
The message was an urgent request for me to send it via FedEx Priority Overnight. She would pay the shipping and supply me with her FedEx account number in addition to the ebay costs. At first, I declined as it was 4PM, the phone would have to be packaged up and taken to the FedEx store and the approaching storm was getting more ominous by the minute. After her assurance that the FedEx deadline was 6PM and her promise that she was "willing to take the chance" if I was, I decided to go for it. Note that I have never before shipped via FedEx.
An hour later, wet from head to toe, and spooked by the lightening bolt that had come way too close as I was getting into the car, I was able to email her the tracking number and report that it should be delivered by 10:30 in Brooklyn, NY. The FedEx store clerk had been very helpful and had the phone securely packaged, boxed and labeled ready for pick-up within a few minutes.
The really fun part is knowing that this old rotary dial phone will be used in a photo shoot for an HBO rock drama (by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger) called "Vinyl" (see the Trailer) today. So be on the look-out for an announcement of the series pilot on HBO in 2016.
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